METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR GENERATING SURFACES FROM POLYGONAL DATA

A method of producing surface data from electronic polygonal data is disclosed. The method includes accessing the polygonal data with a computer, the polygonal data defining a mesh of polygonal data points and including a plurality of vertices, and where the polygonal data describes an object. The method also includes generating a plurality of bounded areas, each including one or more vertices of the polygonal data, expanding a plurality of the bounded areas by adding a plurality of vertices thereto, generating a surface for each of the expanded bounded areas based on the vertices of the expanded bounded areas, generating the surface data based at least in part on the surfaces, and storing the surface data in a computer readable data storage.